Three Shot In New Haven, Suspect Surrenders

NEW HAVEN — Three men are facing charges after a triple shooting that involved an exchange of gunfire involving several people and left one person in critical condition, police said.

Jose Antonio Rodriguez Aponte, 20, who was driving one of the cars, sustained a gunshot wound to the head, and was in critical but stable condition at Yale-New Haven Hospital, police said.

Miya Beal, 18, of New Haven, who was a passenger in Aponte's car, was shot in the foot, police said. She was also taken to Yale-New Haven.

Luis Rodriguez, 25, of New Haven, who police said was driving another car, was shot in the leg and was in stable condition at the hospital.

Aponte and Rodriguez are under arrest at the hospital and both are facing weapons charges, police said. Another man, Michael Claudio, 25, also was arrested. He was spotted by state police discarding a gun into a marsh on Sargent Drive, police said. Claudio had fled one of the cars involved in the incident, police said.

Police recovered several guns. The shooting was not random, Officer David B. Hartman said.

Some nearby schools were locked down at area schools has been lifted, said Daniel Diaz, parent advocate.

According to Hartman, police responded to the intersection of Sargent and Long Wharf drives at 10:20 a.m., when reports of gunfire were called in to the city's 911 center.

After Aponte was shot, Beal, who also was shot, got behind the wheel, drove to Vernon Street and called someone to report the shooting, Hartman said.

Officers say they believe Rodriguez lost control of the Honda on Howard Avenue at Second Street. He got out of the car, ran away and broke into a home near Greenwich Avenue and Second Street, Hartman said. Hiding on the second floor of the home, he called a relative, he said.